NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday said that although it conducts the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET), it has no role in deciding the eligibility criteria for it.

"The responsibility of CBSE is limited to holding the NEET (UG) examination, based on the eligibility criteria provided by MCI. CBSE has no role to play in deciding the eligibility conditions," CBSE said, in an advisory.

"Therefore, all the grievances received by CBSE on these issues are disposed of. Candidates are requested to kindly read the information bulletin and FAQs hosted on NEET website before sending grievance to the board in any form," the board added.

The move comes after the board received several complaints about barring open school candidates and those with biology as an additional subject in class 12 from appearing in NEET.

This year, NEET will be conducted on May 6. The application process which has begun on February 8 will end on March 9. The last date for payment of exam fee online is March 10 till 11.50 PM.

Meanwhile, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said this year, NEET will be conducted in 150 cities, as against 107 last year.

Students who have pursued schooling through National Institute of Open Learning (NIOS)/ State Open School or those who studied biology or biotechnology as an additional subject in class 12 are ineligible to appear in NEET.

Tweeting about setting up of 43 new centres, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said all the cities from where 4,000 and more candidates have applied and which were not exam centres in 2017 have been added as centre cities.

The new centres have been set up in Andhra Pradesh (5), Assam (2), Gujarat (3), Maharashtra (6), Odisha (4), Tamil Nadu (2), Kerala (5), Telangana (2), West Bengal (3), Uttar Pradesh (3) and one new centre each in Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Karnataka and Uttarakhand.